The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1851 ET [Dow Jones]--Engineering contractor SRG Global measures up well to ASX-listed rival Monadelphous, suggests Shaw & Partners. SRG yesterday disclosed several contract wins and a strong outlook statement. That leads analyst Philip Pepe to lift FY27 and FY28 EPS forecasts by 9.8% and 13%, respectively. Shaw expects SRG will achieve some A$200 million of Ebitda in FY27 and A$222 million in FY28. It notes consensus forecasts for Monadelphous are A$230 million and A$239 million, respectively. SRG is trading on an FY27 price-to-earnings ratio of 20.7x, Shaw says. That compares favorably to Monadelphous, which is trading on a FY27 price-to-earnings ratio of 24.0x. "Putting SRG on the same FY27 price-to-earnings ratio as Monadelphous implies a valuation of circa A$4.00 per share," Shaw says. SRG ended Wednesday at A$3.75. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1606 ET - U.S. stocks lose ground as oil prices push higher on renewed tensions between the U.S and Iran. The pullback comes after all three major indexes hit fresh records for the fifth straight session Tuesday. ADP's private payrolls showed hiring remained solid last month, which could feed bets that the Fed will hike interest rates this year. SpaceX is expected to file updated paperwork this afternoon that will include its targeted share-price range for its highly anticipated IPO. DJIA drops 620 points, or 1.2%, to 50687, the S&P 500 loses 0.7% to 7553 and the Nasdaq declines 0.9% to 26853. (patrick.sullivan@wsj.com)
1542 ET - For the second time in nearly a year, Canada PM Mark Carney pulls back on tech policy from his predecessor, former PM Justin Trudeau, to assuage the Trump administration when it comes to trade. USTR Jamieson Greer had previously signaled that Canada's online-streaming rules posed a trade irritant that Washington wanted addressed as part of the USMCA renewal. Those calls intensified after Canada's broadcaster regulator toughened those rules further, increasing the financial obligations of US streamers like Netflix. The Carney government has ordered the regulator to revise its order, and intends to issue new policy priorities. In June of last year, Carney ditched the Trudeau-era digital-services tax after President Trump halted talks due to the digital levy. (paul.vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)
1534 ET - Rogers Communications says it welcomes the "swift and decisive" action from Canada's Liberal government to order the country's broadcast regulator to revise its online-streaming decision. That decision would have increased the level of financial contributions from both online streamers and domestic, over-the-air broadcasters toward Canadian programming. Rogers said the streaming decision "would have introduced complicated and onerous new expenditure quotas with no meaningful relief to Canadian broadcasters." Rogers says the current media landscape that domestic broadcasters face requires a reduction "or the elimination of mandatory financial contributions and inflexible expenditure requirements." Those spending requirements are linked to Canadian programming for French-speaking, indigenous and other minority-language audiences. (paul.vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)
1417 ET - Richelieu Hardware may be making the best of a bad housing situation. In a report, CIBC analyst Hamir Patel says, "Given a tough housing backdrop, we are increasingly comfortable with Richelieu's ability to deliver organic growth in a flat market." Patel says he's also encouraged by the company's 2030 sales goal of C$3 billion, "which demonstrates management's confidence in the business's organic growth and M&A prospects." Patel also says that management noted the pipeline is very healthy and sees the M&A cadence accelerating. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1400 ET - The lobby group representing US companies operating in Canada applauds the Liberal government's directive ordering the country's broadcasting regulator to rework its policy decision on online streaming. The American Chamber of Commerce in Canada says this will help "create the conditions necessary to advance a broader Canada-US trade agreement." The chamber has a keen interest in ensuring that talks between Washington and Ottawa on trade pick up steam and start heading down a more productive path. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had identified Canada's rules as a trade irritant. The broadcasting regulator's order last month to compel online streamers like Netflix to sharply increase their financial contributions toward Canadian programming triggered anger in Hollywood, and prompted fresh accusations of Canadian trade barriers from President Trump's chief envoy in Ottawa, Pete Hoekstra.(Paul.Vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)
1356 ET - Palo Alto Networks is weaker despite a strong F3Q print across all metrics, as investors weigh how much earnings power is really coming from its acquisitions of CyberArk and Chronosphere, Stifel says in a note. "While the stock initially surged 10%+ in after-hours on the print, shares came back down given a bigger beat on acquired assets and a skinnier organic beat (and the lack of an explicit organic/inorganic F4Q guide)," the analysts say. Still, they believe the results show outperformance across both parts of the business. Palo Alto drops 5.8%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1342 ET - Ulta Beauty's latest quarterly results benefited the most from its efforts to offer newness, according to Raymond James in a note. The retailer launched more than 20 brands in the quarter, including exclusive sales of the NOYZ fragrance brand that ranked in the top 20 in the category, analyst Olivia Tong says. Ulta's fragrance sales were also driven by launches in core luxury brands including Saint Laurent, Carolina Herrera and Valentino, Tong says. "We continue to expect Ulta's exclusivity with brands to provide a competitive edge," she says, adding the company will also likely leverage its loyalty program to drive engagement. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1331 ET - Palo Alto Networks' strong F3Q showing proves that "customers are increasingly turning to platforms as they look to adopt AI," Morgan Stanley analysts say in a note. The company's strategy of "platformization," or getting their customers to unite fragmented cybersecurity services into one platform, seems to be paying off, the analysts say: "Reason being, not only is it cost efficient, but these vendors are reducing vulnerabilities given fewer 'seams' in their network that are caused by multiple vendors, something that is critical as the threat environment becomes more severe." It's still the early stages of this trend, with Palo Alto only having a single-digit share of the cybersecurity market, creating a substantial long-term growth runway for the company, Morgan Stanley says. Palo Alto slides 6.4%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1310 ET - Ulta Beauty's 1Q results are triggering worries over competition, UBS analysts say in a note. Investors have concerns over Ulta's slowing same-store sales, and bears are pointing to increased competitive pressure from both new entrants and existing players, the analysts say. However, they also note that Ulta expanded its market share in the quarter in the prestige beauty category, which they estimate makes up a majority of its sales. Ulta also maintained its portion of the mass segment, where competitors like Amazon and Walmart over-index, they say. "Therefore, even if the concerns around competition intensify, Ulta still has unique positioning that should enable it to succeed over time," the analysts say, noting the retailer has tools and levers at its disposal to solidify its overall position in the beauty market. "We remain bullish." (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1240 ET - Visa Direct, the company's payment rail for sending funds to a recipient's debit card, grew 27% last year, eclipsing 8% for its overall debit business. The success has been driven in part by the company's account name inquiry service that allows merchants or Visa Direct originators to verify that a name provided by a cardholder matches the name held by the issuing bank, Visa's Chris Newkirk says at a Baird investor conference. That service has driven up card usage and dramatically reduced chargeback disputes, Newkirk says. (dean.seal@wsj.com)
1207 ET - Visa is evolving beyond its consumer spending home base to capture more of the market for business-to-business payments. The company can help businesses overcome supplier payment frictions with artificial intelligence, Visa's Chris Newkirk says at a Baird investor conference. Many businesses still pay with check or electronic transfers because suppliers balk at a 3% card acceptance fee, he points out. But Visa has launched an accounts receivable manager that uses AI to intake virtual card data from emails, match them with invoices and reconcile them in the supplier's business management system, Newkirk says. That kind of automation can provide a 4% benefit from not having to chase down buyers, he says. (dean.seal@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2026 18:55 ET (22:55 GMT)
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